Portuguese Barn Transformed into Sun-Drenched Louvered Residence

Portuguese architect João Mendes Ribeiro has transformed a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/manifest-destiny-tiny-cabin-finds-a-home-between-san-franciscos-downtown-skyscrapers/" target="_blank">rustic barn</a> in Cortegaça into a sprawling modern home. Embracing the minimalism of the historic façade, the barn was converted into an airy sun-drenched residence. <a href="http://inhabitat.com/zaragozas-green-roofed-ronda-office-features-a-rolling-rainbow-facade/" target="_blank">Wooden louvers</a> and a built-in mezzanine maximize light and space, making the house open yet comfortable.

The soaring ceiling of the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/atelier-bardill-features-a-stamped-pattern-facade-and-circular-cut-courtyard/" target="_blank">original barn</a> was accentuated in the main living space. One wall of the living room was replaced with floor to ceiling glass doors, which connect the interior with the serene farm landscape outside.

<a href="http://inhabitat.com/motats-aviation-display-hall-protects-historic-planes-the-environment/" target="_blank">Wooden louvers</a> line the glass, filtering in the sunlight, while providing a privacy screen between inside and out. The wood of the louvers is further accentuated with the unfinished exposed beams in the high ceilings.

Ribeiro continued the minimalist theme by furnishing the living area with simple white and wood furniture. The woodgrain beams that make of the floor continue up the wall, meeting the ceiling, and <a href="http://inhabitat.com/the-hex-curtain-by-rael-san-fratello-makes-a-kinetic-light-show-out-of-your-window/" target="_blank">creating a pattern</a> that replaces any need for art or décor.

At the other end of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/praksis-turns-19th-century-danish-barn-into-a-modern-cultural-center-in-the-country/" target="_blank">the barn</a>, a double floor mezzanine was built to partition the home into sleeping and eating areas.

A wooden ladder reaches from the living room to the second floor, where a small office, bathroom and bedroom sit, also clad in wood. Beneath <a href="http://inhabitat.com/modelinas-new-coworking-office-maximizes-space-with-private-plywood-loft/" target="_blank">the mezzanine</a> is the kitchen and dining room, lined with a ceiling of the same rich wood as the floors and walls.

The resulting home meshes modernity with the original layout of the barn, creating cozy sleeping areas while utilizing the double height of its <a href="http://inhabitat.com/historic-stone-mill-transformed-into-sprawling-home-in-scotland/" target="_blank">rustic past</a>.